Investing.com - Here are the top 3 things that could rock markets tomorrow.
1. PPI, Core PPI Data on Tap
The Labor Department will release its July producer price index (PPI) at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT), with traders keen to get a sense of whether the pace of inflation remains subdued.
The PPI, which offers clues about the pace of overall inflation, is expected to come in at 0.1% last month, about the same as in May and June. The core PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, is forecast to rise to a rate of 0.3% from 0.2% previously.
The pace of producer prices has been subdued in recent months suggesting the tariffs on Chinese imports are yet to boost inflation.
2. Oil Rig Count Rolls In
Traders will look to the latest Baker Hughes rig count data due Friday for clues on crude production activity following an uptick in U.S. production to 12.3 million barrel a day last week.
Data last week showed the number of oil rigs operating in the U.S. fell by 6 to 776.
The weekly rig count is an important barometer for the drilling industry and serves as a proxy for oil production and oil services demand.
Oil prices found their footing from a recent slump on Thursday, thanks to better-than-expected China trade data.
3. Pound in Focus as UK GDP Figures, Manufacturing Due
The odds of the U.K. leaving the European Union without a deal have wreaked havoc on the pound of late, and sentiment on the currency is unlikely to improve as economists' forecast that U.K. economic growth fell in the second quarter.
UK GDP is expected to have slowed to a rate of 0.1% in July, down from 0.3% the prior month, and 1.4% in the second quarter of this year, down from 1.8% a year ago.
Manufacturing activity, meanwhile, an area bedeviled by cuts in capital spending among UK businesses amid all the Brexit uncertainty, is expected to fall 0.1% in June from a 1.4% rise in May.
GBP/USD was roughly flat, trading at $1.213 on the day.
Any sterling rallies "will be met with very strong opposition," says Mazen Issa, senior currency strategist at TD Securities. "There is no reason for value-hunting in sterling."